captioning made possible by johnson & johnson, where quality products for the american family have been a tradition for generations >> osgood: good morning. i'm charles osgood and this is sunday morning. coming off a terrible and unforgettable week with the events in boston still uppermost in our minds. we'll be devoting a good part of this morning's broadcast to the bombings and their after math. and as martha teichner and others will explore, the lessons that can be drawn. >> reporter: we haven't been able to turn our eyes away from the bombings and the manhunt

that followed. sadly familiar, yet very different. >> the big data error, the social media error, all aspects of that new world that was nonexistent even on 9/11. all of that came into play. during this event. >> reporter: this sunday morning, looking back on the past week's extraordinary events in boston. >> osgood: in the wake of a sudden catastrophic event, people are often haunted by thoughts of "if only" powerful feelings of regret over things we always meant to do and say but always thought there would be another chance. that sense of nevermore was felt all too often this past week. lee cowan will be talking about it. (screaming). >> reporter: it wasn't just boston. there was another deadly explosion in west, texas. leaving friends and family without a chance to say good-bye. >> you know, just because someone leaves our lives, it

doesn't mean that all of the feelings and the emotions and the things that we want to say them leave too. they just don't disappear. >> reporter: unspoken words later on sunday morning. >> osgood: we'll also be spending time this morning with alan alda. the accomplished actor whose work was known and long admired who is currently playing a different and unexpected role. tracy smith found him hard at work. >> reporter: as hawkeye pierce, he had no trouble with confusing medical jargon. >> putting it simply what has happened is i have suffered a blow to my occipital bone right where it articulates with the parietal. >> reporter: now alda is is trying to get doctors and other scientists to speak plain english. is this your life's work now? >> i do spend a lot of time at it. >> reporter: acting out with alan alda ahead on sunday morning. >> osgood: flower power is the story from seth doane, a

colorful reminder that despite everything, it is spring again. >> reporter: it's the time of year to get into the garden. a good time for us to get the real dirt on plants. >> a plant is stuck where it is so it has to adapt in order to survive. that's led to the evolution of complex biology that isn't found in most animals. >> reporter: a plant's perspective. ahead this sunday morning. >> osgood: sheryl attkisson talks to some victims of terrorism fighting for their day in court. steve hartman has the story of a veteran's battle against illiteracy. steve reynolds tours some of chicago's top pent houses and more but first the headlines for this sunday morning 212 of april 2013. the investigation into what motivated two ethnic chechen brothers who are suspects in the boston marathon bombings goes

on. president obama met with national security officials yesterday to discuss the probe. there were memorial services throughout boston. and at fenway park neal diamond was on hand to sing sweet caroline, a long-time fan favorite. ♪ it never seemed so good >> osgood: more than 50 of those injured in last monday's explosions remain hospitalized. three are in critical condition. residents are being permitted to return to their homes in west texas four days after wednesday's huge explosion of a fertilizer plant there. the death toll stands at 14 with some 200 injured. the powerful earthquake in southwestern china has killed at least 180 people and injured more than 11,000 others. meeting in washington the world bank says it will work to eliminate global poverty in the next 17 years. it's estimated more than a billion people live on less than $1.25 a day.

the waters of the mississippi, missouri, and other midwest rivers are expected to crest soon after days of torrential rains. national weather service is predicting what it calls major flooding. after a moment of silence and with extra security measures, the london marathon is being run today. 36,000 runners are taking part. now the weather. today will be mostly sunny for much of the country. but more rain and some snow is expected out west. the week ahead will bring more april showers but also some summer-like heat in the southwest. just ahead, unanswerd questions. and later alan alda's lab,,,,,,,

amid cheers of celebrations and sighs of relief all across boston, all across the country really, the investigation into the bombings and their perpetrators is moving ahead. we have a number of reports this morning. to begin we hear from john miller and then jim axel rod. to begin we hear from john miller and then jim axel rod. >> reporter: it was a week of images, both frightening and inspiring. the chaos of a terrorist attack and the heroism of the response. in erie videos from security cameras we saw brothers tamerlan and dzhokhar tsarnaev allegedly

on the way to place the bombs. and then the gripping 28-hour manhunt. there was an ambush that left a young police officer dead. and a gun battle that left a transit police officer badly wounded and ended the life of tamerlan tsarnaev. dzhokhar tsarnaev, his younger brother, was lost spotted in this infrared photo hiding inside a boat as the drag net closed in around him. his f.b.i. wanted poster now marked captured is the image that puts to a close the first chapter in the story of the boston marathon bombing. and so the next chapter opens with nothing but questions. questions posed by the president himself. >> why did young men who grew up and studied here as part of our communities and our country resort to such violence? how did they plan and carry out these attacks? and did they receive any help?

the families of those killed so senselessly deserve answers. >> reporter: answers that the full force of u.s. law enforcement and intelligence agencies are racing to learn. was there foreign help or training? older brother tamerlan spent six months overseas last year. he went to chechnya, areas where islamic extremists and violent chechen separatists are known to operate. >> he was away for six months. was that long enough to have done what? >> that's long enough to have done a lot of things. if you're motivated, have the connections, there's plenty of time there to be initiated into a group, receive training and potentially a lot of training. >> reporter: robert mcfadden is a former agent in the n.c.i.s., the naval criminal investigative service. his 30-plus years experience in counterterrorism includes work on the al qaeda bombing of the u.s.s. coal in 2000. >> something just blew up. reporter: mcfadden believes the number one priority of

investigators is to be sure there are no accomplices still at large. >> are there other events coming? what other events are planned and doing everything possible to rule out that there could be other terrorist acts in place and do everything possible to disrupt that. >> reporter: as for the surviving brother, dzhokhar tsarnaev, a gunshot wound to his neck currently prevents him from speaking. investigators believe it may have been self-inflicted, a possible suicide attempt. needless to say, many want to hear what he has to say including massachusetts governor deval patrick. >> i think all of the law enforcement professionals are hoping for a host of reasons that the suspect survives because we have a million questions. >> reporter: in a controversial move, the justice department plans to begin questioning tsarnaev before reading him his miranda rights, saying investigators need immediate

information on any attacks that may be in the works. the pressure is on to learn exactly where this trail of bloodshed began. >> reporter: this is jim axel rod in boston. for those who knew the tsarnaev brothers, the questions are personal. >> who would do something like this? >> not him. reporter: larry aaronson was once a teacher at the high school the younger brother, dzhokhar attended. >> i know this kid to be compassionate. i know this kid to be forth coming. he's a great athlete. he's a sportsman. he's never been in trouble. >> reporter: the two brothers who are ethnic chechens came to the u.s. with their family a decade ago. facing the vicious fighting... escaping the vicious fighting between the government and the largely chechen rebel. dzhokhar who became an american citizen on september 11 of last year is 19 years old. he was a student at the university of massachusetts

dartmouth. his older brother tamerlan was 26 years old, married to an american woman with a young daughter. he studied engineering at bunker hill community college but dropped out. tamerlan was an accomplished boxer, a new england golden gloves heavyweight champion. >> he was confident in his abilities. he wasn't shy about sharing that. definitely in good shape. >> reporter: julian poll ard roomed with him during a boxing tournament. did you have a sense of him? what kind of guy was him. >> maybe a little arrogant, a little cocky but nothing outloud. his clothing said it more than he did verbally. then the next year he was just a different guy. the way he carried himself was much more humble. he only spoke about his faith. he was big into religion. >> reporter: both brothers were muslims. >> i was shocked. reporter: their uncle ruslan tsarni said he too saw changes in tamerlan. >> it was a different tamerlan. seeing no purpose in life but to pursue the path of god.

okay. when i asked what is the path, he would say some kind of jihad. >> reporter: on his you-tube page last year, tamerlan endorsed several jihady videos. but what about dzhokhar, the younger brother? >> he's from chechnya. i said, whoa, so you were there during all the war the russia and all the bombing and all the terror. he said yeah but i don't remember it really. to tell you the truth i don't remember it. then he went on to say how grateful he was to be here and what a lucky and fortunate person he was. >> reporter: the uncle believes the younger brother was swayed by the older brother. >> the older brother involved him. dzhokhar would never ever have any idea. even by that age he wouldn't have that hatred intentionally to cause harm to innocent people. >> reporter: was he polite? very polite. very polite. >> reporter: on tuesday, a day after the marathon bombing,

dzhokhar came to gilberto jr.'s auto body shop. what did he say to you? >> he didn't say anything. he didn't do anything that i noticed. he was kind of biting his fingernails. he was shaking his legs. you know, i noticed that he was nervous. >> reporter: dzhokhar wanted to retrieve a car he had brought in for work before the work was even done. for gilberto, jr., the chock of this week is almost too much to bear. there are many questions but he has few answers. >> you know, there's no explanation there, you know. there's no explanation. >> osgood: up next... i started thinking, what would people say to someone if they had another chance to say it? >> osgood: no regrets. ♪

[ female announcer ] what does the anti-aging power of olay total effects plus the perfecting color of a bb cream equal? introducing the newest beauty trend. total effects cc cream c for color. c for correction. [ female announcer ] fight 7 signs of aging flawlessly. cc for yourself.

if only this past week hadn't happened, lives were ended, others changed forever. and there are so many things we wanted them to know. here's lee cowan. >> reporter: they came without any warning. (bomb blast). first, the bombs in the bustling city of boston. and then two days later (gunfire) another blast at a fertilizer plant in the small town of west, in texas.

they seemed to have little in common except the grief they caused. but they do remind us that we don't get to set life's clock. while we may think we have a tomorrow to say all the things we want to say, what this past week proved is that sometimes that tomorrow doesn't come and the things left unsaid could end up among our greatest regrets. >> you know, just because someone leaves our lives, it doesn't mean that all of the feelings and the emotions and the things that we want to say to them leave too. they don't just disappear. >> reporter: jackie hooper has never forgotten the passing of someone she never even knew, actress natasha richardson. richardson was skiing in 2009 when she took a fall. not serious, it seemed. she went back to her hotel room with little more than a headache. two days later she was dead from an he durrell hematoma, too quick and too unexpected for her family to even say good-bye.

>> so that when i started thinking, what would people say to someone if they had another chance to say it? >> reporter: as a young writer jackie decided to make it her project. she began asking her simple question to just about anyone who would listen. >> i started drafting a letter of how i would introduce it to businesses, schools, retirement homes, jails, and i did it. >> reporter: soon her home in portland oregon was buried in heart felt letters. most, she quickly noticed, were written to people who had died unexpectedly. they piled up. she started a blog and then a book, appropriately titled "the things you would have said." >> dear melanie, you were too young to die in that car accident. so much ahead of you. >> reporter: the letters came from all over the world. >> i'm so sorry that i cried when you told me you were pregnant. i'm so sorry i said that you ruined your wedding. >> reporter: they're from mothers who regret fighting with

their daughters. >> i felt so bad that i too had laughed and made fun of our acts along with a lot of other kids. >> reporter: or from bullies who now regret their bullying. >> i know i'm a better person today from lesson i learned but still wish i had done better when i was 17 years old. >> reporter: there are even a few from children. one bidding farewell to a pet fish. >> dear goldy, i miss you so much that my mom had to buy me a bird and a dog. >> reporter: all intimate, all important, but for one reason or another were things never said outloud. so do you think the process of having people put these regrets down on paper is sort of a form of closure in a way? >> i do. there is this feeling of having that final conversation. people even say when they send it to me it almost feels like they're sending it to that person that they can't reach. it's physically getting it away from inside of them to somebody else. and it can be really healing.

>> people can use the emotion of regret... >> reporter: professor neal ross at northwestern university in chicago has been studying the emotion of regret for 20 years. he agrees if it's channeled right it can be beneficial. >> regret can serve a healthy purpose if we listen to a message or draw an insight but then move on and focus on the future. >> reporter: it's the missed opportunities, when we could have acted but didn't. sometimes those are the most haunting. >> the things that are left undone tend to be more powerful and longer lasting especially if we think about words unsaid, things that we wish we had told a loved one before it was too late. these tend to last a long time because they invite our imagination to fill in the blanks in innumerable ways. >> reporter: take 88-year-old earnest waxman. he just happens to be jackie hooper's grandfather.

>> citizenship was taken away. reporter: he's a holocaust survivor, a survivor only because of the gabriel, his christians in berlin who hid him from the nazis on an infamous night of anti-jewish rioting and murder. you were old enough to know what was going on. >> i think any ten-year-old kids would know. >> reporter: eventually he fled to safety in sweden, got married, and came to the u.s. >> dear mrs. gabriel. reporter: but ever since the war he regretted never having thanked that family quite enough. >> you were angels to put themselves in danger in order to help save my family. the memory of what you have done for me remains unchanged. >> reporter: did it make you feel better to write the letter? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> reporter: how so? well, it has been on my mind

all those years, you know. and i finally had a way to express myself. >> i think any time you have the chance to tell somebody that they've made an impact on your life, you need to take that opportunity. you need to make the opportunity. >> dear mrs. muscleman english has been my favorite subject. >> reporter: this woman's letter was addressed to a woman named mrs. muscleman, debby's 10th grade english teacher. >> she had very old-fashioned cat-eye glasses. she wore big shoes that looked like bricks. so what did i do? i clomped around the hall i'm mrs. muscleman with my big orthopedic shoes like i'm frankenstein. i made fun of her. i don't know why when i was younger i thought that that was appropriate. i don't know.

>> reporter: but out of childhood regret came this. sobering letter. >> will you accept my apology for being an unappreciative student in your class in 10th grade. i use the concept you elucidated for me everyday of my life. thank you for persevering with us all and teaching me despite my resistance. sincerely, debby dee. >> reporter: mrs. muscleman died before learning what debby grew up to be. >> so whenever something is in a prepare situation, it's the objective proceed noun. >> reporter: she's now a teacher herself. >> i always thought maybe i would see her at a reunion or i would be at an alumni function or something like that. i would see her. >> reporter: but it just didn't never happened. >> it didn't, no. reporter: time has an uncomfortable way of sneaking up on all of us. we hope this week will be better than last. the fact is, we're never really

sure. >> the big thing for me is remembering that final conversation you have with people. i know that if my husband is busy getting ready upstairs for work and he runs out the door because he's late and he just says bye, he's pretty sure that within a couple minutes he'll get a text or a phone call saying i love you because those moments are very clear in my mind now. >> reporter: everybody has got a what-if. >> everybody has got a what-if. i mean, you could literally run in here without the treadmill. >> osgood: ahead, rooms with a view. and... >> have you ever seen the great venus fly trap. >> reporter: the human side of plants. >> we can identify with it. we can actually see it eating. as your life and career change, fidelity is there for your personal economy, helping you readjust your retirement plan

along the way. rethink how you're invested. and refocus as your career moves forward. wherever you are today, a fidelity ira has a wide range of investment choices to help you fine-tune your personal economy. call today and we'll make it easy to move that old 401(k) to a fidelity no-fee ira. nespresso. where there is an espresso to match my every mood. ♪ where just one touch creates the perfect coffee. where every cappuccino and latte is made at home. and where i can have exactly what i desire.

♪ nespresso. what else? even the inside of your dishwasher sparkles. okay. so i'm the bad guy for being clean. you said it. ladies, let's not fight dirty. cascade kitchen counselor. see, over time, finish gel can leave hard-water film on your dishes and dishwasher. new cascade platinum's triple-action formula not only cleans your dishes, it helps keep your dishwasher sparkling. so we're good? don't do that. okay. [ female announcer ] cascade's best is new cascade platinum.

>> it's sunday morning on cbs, and here again is charles osgood. >> osgood: many of us dream of some day being able to live the high life literally. some folks in chicago are already doing that. dean reynolds looks them up. >> reporter: while most of us behold chicago's skyline from the sidewalk up, there are those lucky few who have a permanent bird's eye view. >> this is what we call the west deck. >> reporter: the west deck looking west. >> it lets us look into your favorite baseball field, wrigley field. >> reporter: can you hear it?

oh, yeah. reporter: jeffrey rogers and his wife caroline live in a 17th-floor pent house overlooking lake michigan. >> in the spring, summer and fall when the sailing community is is out on the lake, it's like looking at a french master's painting. deck number two. this is the north deck. >> reporter: rogers made his fortune in construction. >> so this is is what we call the south deck. >> reporter: looking there is navy pier. not bad. >> it's a nice place. reporter: it sure is. 5200 square feet of nice in this 1926 building. >> we added the upstairs about seven years ago. >> reporter: realtors say it would probably fetch $2.5-$3 million if the rogers were selling, which they are not. the same realtors say in new york, it would cost about four times as much. the rogers' son, harrison, an

8th grader, has live here all his life. >> i get to see if there are fish in the harbor. >> reporter: you can see the schools of fish. >> yeah, you can see like the salmon or the carp or whatever is is out there at that time. >> reporter: now the rogers' home is perfectly adequate shelter, but it's far from the grandest place to live in the windy city. and how much space are we talking about in this apartment? >> 14,250 square feet. reporter: this man is the real estate broker for what he says is is the highest home in the western hemisphere. 89 floors up atop the trump international hotel and tower. this is the entire top floor. >> the entire top floor, which was created for one buyer. >> reporter: one very wealthy buyer. >> this is just a movie theater. reporter: naturally it was a movie theater.

>> it's unfinished space which means it's not completed. it's $32 million. >> reporter: three potential owners are interested, he says. >> there is nothing like it in chicago or anywhere else in the country. >> reporter: but the price doesn't exactly stop there. the property taxes alone will run around $320,000 a year. condo fees are $12,000 a month. a parking space can be had for $100,000. and as the owner of the pent house, you could claim 15 of them. there's also round-the-clock room service and more. >> beautiful exercise room. really nice. >> reporter: wow. i mean, you could literally run in here without the treadmill. to the real estate broker, the seven-bedroom, eight-bath, unfinished wonder is a bargain. this new york, he says, its price would be upwards of $100

million. when a prospective buyer comes in here, they're not calculating monthly payments, are they? >> most of the buyers are cash buyers. >> reporter: cash! here's $32 million. let me move in. >> yes. reporter: and once perched at an altitude pilots the surely appreciate, you can gaze out of your 16-foot windows and see all the way to milwaukee. >> osgood: next, word for word. ,

snairlt almost 68 years after the end of world war ii, a decorated veteran of that conflict was waging a struggle that he says is the toughest of his life. steve hartman found him on the road. >> reporter: inside a singlewide in cookson oklahoma a tortured soul lives alone. >> it's a hard life, let me tell you. you ain't never lived hard until you go through what i've been through. >> reporter: 90-year-old ed gray served in world war ii. he was at normandy on d-day, has two purple hearts and more than a dozen other medals. but to this day, he still can't

even read what they're for. not because it's too painful. >> victory. reporter: but because he simply can't read. you know what that word on? e-u-r-o-p-e. >> the toughest thing that ever happened to me in my life is not being able to read. >> reporter: you said you were at normandy though. >> yes, sir. reporter: illiteracy can be that damning. >> i've covered this up for 80 years. nobody in this town knows i can't read. >> reporter: until he retired, ed worked a civilian job at an air force base refueling planes. a coworker helped him with the forms and whatnot. at home his wife covered for him for 62 years until she died in '09. >> would you put some coffee on. reporter: today ed manages okay but the soldier in him still refuses to surrender. >> i wanted to read one book. i don't care if it's about mickey mouse. i want to read one book. before i die. >> reporter: over the years ed says many people have tried to school him.

but invariably either the teacher or the student would get frustrated and give up. then a few months ago a friend suggested he see a professor of reading education here at oklahoma's north eastern state university. >> he told me i was wasting my time. and i said, well, we'll just sit and chat a couple times a week. is that okay. >> reporter: sophie thompson says eventually their weekly talks gave way to flash cards. >> everything started clicking. reporter: he got pretty word at the sight words. but the real breakthrough came in february. when ed gray read this book about george washington. >> it gave me goose bumps. it still does. it still does. >> i just makes me feel good. reporter: he's read ten more since. and though they're mostly third grade level biographies, each has had the same dramatic ending. >> did you ever think you'd read that. >> reporter: each one the same moral take-away for anyone who

thinks they're too old to do something. >> get in there and learn, baby. now! because you ain't going to learn in that pine box. >> reporter: just learn to read and already a poet. >> and that's the truth. osgood: ahead... the kid with nice big ears always smiling...ve rheum the kid with nice big ears always smiling...ve rheum >> osgood: searching for answers. could your "i want" become "i can"? talk to your rheumatologist. orencia reduces many ra symptoms like pain, morning stiffness and the progression of joint damage. it's helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. do not take orencia with another biologic medicine for ra due to an increased risk of serious infection. serious side effects can occur including fatal infections. cases of lymphoma and lung cancer have been reported. tell your doctor if you are prone to or have any infection like an open sore or the flu

or a history of copd, a chronic lung disease. orencia may worsen your copd. [ male announcer ] now learn about a program committed to you and copay assistance that can reduce monthly orencia out-of-pocket drug cost to $5. if you're not satisfied after 6 months, you get that money back. call 1-800-orencia. yeah, i'm looking to save, but i'm not sure which policy is right for me. you should try our coverage checker. it helps you see if you have

too much coverage or not enough, making it easier to get what you need. [ beeping ] these are great! [ beeping ] how are you, um, how are you doing? i'm going to keep looking over here. probably a good idea. ken: what's a good idea? nothing. with coverage checker, it's easy to find your perfect policy. visit progressive.com today. >> he put a shame. he put a shame on the tsarnaev family. he put a shame on the entire

chechen ethnicity. >> osgood: the uncle of the tsarnaev brothers did get a great deal of attention on friday with hit outspoken remarks about his nephews and their latest crimes. he had a great deal more to say in a conversation yesterday with our chip reid. >> reporter: the world knows tamerlan and dzhokhar tsarnaev as the boston marathon bombers, cold-blooded killers who blended into the crowd. their uncle ruslan tsarni told us he remembers when they were just ordinary kids, especially younger brother dzhokhar. >> awesome kid. reporter: happy kid. happy kid. with nice big ears, always smiling. >> reporter: you wanted tamerlan to move here and share in this dream. at his home in maryland, tsarni told us there was a time when older brother tamerlan was special too. >> i wanted tamerlan to be a big brother to all our family especially my children. >> reporter: but that was before a disturbing phone call with

tamerlan in 2009, the last time they spoke. what is it that he said? >> it's a very, very sort of flow of words, a flow of words. the name of god, jihad. it's over. again you put all these pieces together, there's no sense. >> reporter: did you think this is a violent person? he could do horrible things? >> at the time he more looked for me as a joke. i never treated it as something serious. >> reporter: but a cruel joke, he says. a beloved nephew who once studied accounting and excelled in the boxing ring had fallen, he says, under the influence of radical islamists in his boston community. >> the seed was planted right there. the seed was planted in this little town of cambridge area. >> reporter: it wasn't online? it wasn't from overseas? it was right there in cambridge? >> it was right there.

reporter: tsarni said he's horrified by what happened to his two nephews who he once thought he knew so well. why do you think it's younger brother dzhokhar was involved in the bombing? >> the older brother involved him. >> reporter: he involved him. the brother involved him. even the worst gangster would not involve his family member especially a younger sibling into something dirty and cruel like this.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

investigators will doubtless follow the money to see what financial help the marathon bombers may have received. for some victims of earlier terrorist attacks, the money trail has led them straight into federal court. sheryl attkisson has their story. >> reporter: new york attorney mark sacalo managed to escape

the world trade center in the september 11 attacks. a few months later feeling lucky to be alive, he took his family on vacation to israel. >> the last day of our trip was sunday january 27. >> reporter: in a horrible twist of fate, terror was to strike him for the second time in four months. >> we heard this terrific blast. right away i knew that it was a bomb. it was probably a suicide bomber. >> reporter: the family was shopping in this jerusalem shoe store when the suicide bomber struck. >> i remember spinning around from the force of the bomb. and it seemed like slow motion. i can't believe this is happening to me. i just can't believe it's happening. i just thought we were going to die. >> reporter: the suicide bomber killed one other person and injured 150. had you seen yourself in the mirror? jamie, the family's youngest remembers those terrifying

moments. >> right when it happened i knew what was going on. >> reporter: you were 12. yes. i looked up and a little girl was look down at me and she was unrecognizable. her face was just bleeding and i had no idea if this could possibly be jamie but then i realized that it was. >> reporter: it was a time of death and destruction on the streets of israel. the second inti fad a or palestinian uprising marked by repeated terror strikes. >> i felt the burning sensation of the bullets going into my body. >> reporter: eugene and lorain gold stein were visiting israel for their grandson's wedding in june 2003 when terrorists randomly opened fire on their volkswagen. >> did you see who had shot you? i saw two men. i did see them. >> reporter: both lorraine and eugene had been shot in the head. their son howard was driving. >> the way his body was weaving back and forth, we knew he was gone. >> i knew my son was dead.

and i was next to my son. all kinds of things went through my mind. the thought of losing a child and being in that kind of graphic situation just very overwhelming. it's beyond words. i don't think of my son. every night during the night i think, just picture him laying next to me. >> reporter: both families are now part of a group of landmark lawsuits filed in new york federal court. they include 5,000 terror victims globally several hundred descred in the u.s. they're using a novel approach to fight back against the enemy that tore apart their lives. they're suing international banks that they say supported the terrorists. the lawsuits allege that arab bank and two other foreign banks with new york offices were key to an intricate system that moved cash to aid terrorists and their families. accounts in arab bank allegedly

used to pay cash rewards to families of suicide bombers and other so-called palestinian martyrs. records show money was supplied by two groups on the u.s. list of foreign terrorist organizations hezbollah and hamas. the terrorist who attacked mark's family was the first female suicide bomber in the conflict. >> the family of this woman presented docks eument taition to arab banks showing that they are the family of the woman who committed this attack and as soon as the bank was satisfied, they made a payment to the family of the equivalent of $5,316. >> reporter: the payment was supposedly for what. >> to compensate the family for loss of a wage earner, for example. their families probably are adversely affected in a financial way due to their loss of life but they were suicide bombers. they were terrorists.

>> reporter: the suit alleges that a charity called the saudi committee for the support of the intifada organized millions of dollars in payments from hamas. have you been surprised by how formalized this network was? >> i could not believe it. it turns out that there was a whole system in place. the saudi committee would provide lists of terrorists and their families, all sorts of information to the bank. the saudi committee would advertise throughout the west bank and gaza and other areas that if you want to contribute funds to help the families of suicide bombers, you can do so by sending us money via the network of bank branches of our bank and perhaps others. it's just shocking to read this. and it was done out in the open. it was done on republic websites. it wasn't something that they hid. >> reporter: none of the banks would talk on camera. they say they merely conducted routine banking activities not intended to promoterror. another bank calls the

allegations baseless and absurd. arab bank said it abhors terroris. it reportedly admits transferring $90 million in what it calls humanitarian aid to palestinians, but says there was no conspiracy to subsidize suicide bombers. >> based on my experience in the treasury... >> reporter: cbs news analyst was the treasury department's assistant secretary for terrorist financing under president george w. bush. how big of a deal is this case? >> i think this is a set of cases that are incredibly important, not just for the banking community but also for the counterterrorism world because it potentially sends a chilling signal to banks around the world that they run the risk of financial and legal liability if they're doing business with terrorist actors. >> reporter: the bank may say we didn't know what they were doing. we're simply doing business with a customer. >> they knew it. they had to know. they could not be in business they didn't know.

they didn't become bankers by being stupid. the money that's from there helping terrorism in that part of the world can be done to promoterrorrism in this country. so they have to be stopped. >> terrorists and terrorist organizations need funding like any other organization. it should be important to every american to try to put an end to the funning of terrorism. which we've all seen can actually happen on american soil as well. >> i think a really cool question is how do they know it's spring? >> osgood: ahead, can they think? >> yeah, you could have gotten into that, yes. >> osgood: and alan alda's latest role. ,,,,,,,,

so she sees her allergist who has a receptionist susan, who sees that she's due for a mammogram. mary has one that day. that's when she finds out she has a tumor. she has a successful surgery and because her health provider has an amazing connected system, she has her life. i don't know what you have but i have kaiser permanente. kaiser permanente. thrive. >> osgood: spring is the season for flower power. which turns out to be far more than just a whimsical phrase. seth doane examines the unfolding research.

>> reporter: a blossom can reveal nature at its most vibrant and spectacular. up close, these flowers bring color and life, take our breath away, and can even transform a concrete block in the middle of manhattan. >> i get a lot from these plants. i feel harmonious. i'm a pretty type-a person. >> reporter: at this oasis officially the clinton community garden, part-time farmers tend to tiny plots. just blocks from times square. here they commune with nature. >> sometimes just the smell hits you like it's erotic. and then the roses start blooming. >> reporter: it's a roler coaster of sensations. >> it is. reporter: and scientists who

study plants at a moleculear level say the gardens are a sense ore experience for the plant too. >> plants know quite a lot. a plant knows if you're standing on it because it feels it. it knows if its neighbor is sick because it smells it. it knows where its food is because it sees it. >> reporter: plants feeling, smelling, seeing? plant complexity biologist daniel shamovitz explains is rooted in something simple. >> think about it. a plant being rooted. it can't move. it can't escape. if you're thirsty, you can go to a ball. if you're cold, you can go to florida. a plant is stuck where it is. so it has to adapt in order to survive. that has led to the evolution of complex biology that isn't found in most animals. >> reporter: at the new york botanical garden, that complexity is on display. >> when we're looking at these irises a really cool question is

how do they know it's spring? >> reporter: that's one of the many questions he explores in his book "what a plant knows." >> and the way that they know it's spring is that they see the light. the leaves of the iris are constantly monitoring light environment. they're actually may sewering how long the night is. >> reporter: it has nothing to do with summer. it is all about recognizing... >> the length of the day and the length of the night. >> reporter: this blooming iris was captured in time lapse video by film maker lewis swarsberg. the images show case the wonder of these plants. which can detect and respond to light even color. >> just like we can see red, blue and green, plants can see red, blue and even u.v. light. >> reporter: in some ways plants have a greater spectrum of light. >> they see more than we do. from a plant's point of view we're visually challenged. we only have four or five photo receptors, proteins that can see

the light in our bodies. plants have like 13. >> they don't have sense organs in the way that we do. they don't have eyes or ears or noses, but they have receptors. and that's the level at which humans and plants are the same. >> reporter: amy litt is the director of plant-gemomics at the botanical garden. she explains that some plants smell or detect a chemical calledeth leon. >> for instance, if i wound this leaf, this leaf can release chemicals that will travel up into the plant and the rest of the plant will then detect those chemicals. >> reporter: that sense of smell explains how one piece of ripened fruit can cause nearby fruit to ripen, even overripen. a scientific explanation for the old saying one bad apple spoils the bunch. this tiny parasitic vine called a daughter smells its way toward food attracted by the chemicals released by a tomato plant.

i will eventually wrap around the stall being to absorb really steal the nutrients it needs. knowing all of this about these plants can be slightly horrifying. >> yeah, that's why you have to temper this by realizing that they don't care. >> reporter: vegetarians, he assures need not feel guilty. the whole thing sounds like something dreamed up in hollywood. like that man-eating plant in little shop of horrors. >> here we're seeing the great venus fly trap. >> reporter: why great? we can identify with it. we can actually see it eating. >> reporter: when a bite-sized bug enters the plant it touches a tiny trigger, but the plant will only snap shut and eat the bug if it touches a second trigger within a certain period of time. he calls that a primitive form of memory. it has a memory specific to a

length of time. >> a memory to a link of time just like i have a memory for a length of time for a phone number. just like people have different types of talents some plans are really good touch plants. this is a great one to see it. >> reporter: growing in a pool of water, a neptuneia plant contracts to protect itself. you see the leaves curling in, in seconds. touch, sight, smell. so what about hearing? >> i have two kinds of oregano. there's thyme there. >> reporter: the folks back at the community garden would love to know about that. >> when there's something going wrong with them i look at them and say why are you doing this to me? i don't know why there's these holes in my basil leaves. >> reporter: do you talk to the basil? >> i'm trying to get it to tell me what's going on when i'm not here. >> reporter: we've heard that plants can respond to music. is that truth? >> sorry to be a myth-berter here. but of all the data about plant senses there is no credible data

yet about plants responding to sound. >> reporter: while we don't share a love for music as we unravel the complexity of plants, we have found that we share a lot more with them than we ever imagined. and that only heightens the wonder and the mystery behind these blossoms. >> don't forget. you have to stay involved in both conversations snairms up next a class act. in a classroom. >> really nice. ♪

can your longwear makeup last 'til five o'clock? it will if it's new outlast stay fabulous foundation.

it's a primer, concealer and foundation in one for all day flawless skin. new outlast stay fabulous from easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. i am the love call of evolution, the perfume and color of the flowers a as they offer their pollen to the gentle fuzz of the bees. i am life. >> it's sunday morning on cbs. and here again is charles osgood. >> osgood: alan alda proved on the tv series mash that you don't need a medical degree to portray an army medic. now all these years later he's

proving that you don't need a degree in science to help spread the word about the latest findings. tracy smith has our sunday profile. >> (laughing). reporter: who knew that doing weird-looking acting class exercises like this could help science students become better communicators? and who knew that he would be their teacher. >> don't forget. you have to stay involved in both conversations. >> reporter: at 77, alan alda is using his acting skills to teach scientists how to relate to, well, the rest of us. >> very good, guys. very animated. you don't think of knowledge as a curse but it's a curse if i think you know everything i know and i talk to you in ways you can't understand me. >> reporter: alda trains scientists to be more sensitive to their audience. >> i research photo active semiconductors. >> coastal management issues. reporter: instead of speaking what we might hear as gibberish... >> spatial planning and the

valuation of eco-system services to different stake holder groups. >> reporter: we get this. i study how people want to know the ocean. >> reporter: if scientists can't communicate with the public, with policy makers like congress who have told me over and over again they cannot understand scientists who come in to talk to them. >> reporter: so a scientist comes in and testifies on capitol hill... >> trying to get money. why would you give money to somebody whose work you don't understand. you don't know what it is. why would you give money to it. >> reporter: so alda approached new york's stonybrook university and offered to teach their science students. and they jumped at it. >> when you do your work and apply this it's not going to be that you're fundy and the patients are going to love you. what they're going to love is that you're connected to them. >> reporter: at the school's center for communicating science, alda trains the best and the brightest. like these medical students. and he uses the same method that helps make him a star.

improv. >> it makes you present. it makes you alive. you're here and now you're talking to another actor. you're not pretending to talk to the actor. you're really talking to the actor. that changes everything about you. and it changes the other person too. because if you're working with a salami you're not going to react with that. >> reporter: did you work with a few sal a.m.y? >> sometimes, yes. reporter: but it didn't seem to hurt. by any measure alan alda has had a magical career. >> look, i know you don't respect what i do. i understand that. i have a closet full of emmys. >> reporter: actually he has seven emmys. and a bunch of other awards including six golden globes. >> you want to go to war with me? >> reporter: plus an oscar nomination for his role as a republican senator in 2004 p the aviator. >> we just beat germany and japan. who the hell are you? >> reporter: of course, before all that, there was a little tv

role as a maverick army surgeon who needed no help communicating. >> i have to get the shrapnel out of your neck. i'm going to put a tube in so you can breathe easier. if you want to brag about this to the folks at home it's called >> reporter: born in new york city, alda was always fast natured by science but he had show biz in his veins. dad was an acting, mom a former show girl. do you think if things had gone differently when you were young he you might have been a scientist? >> i don't think so. i think i have other talents. i think i'm doing what i should be doing. i should be... i'm very interested in science. i want to hear from scientists. and i have experience in helping people communicate better. so i'm in a perfect spot. but to be a scientist, i think i'd be more like what bob newhart was when he was an accountant. he thought if you come in within a couple of bucks, shouldn't that be okay. >> reporter: and you have to be a little more exact.

>> you have to be a little more rigorous than that, yes. >> reporter: so after studying english at forwardham and doing a hitch in the service, yes, hawkeye pierce was once an actual army reserve officer, alan alda turned to acting. in 1971, he shot a pilot for a tv show based on the movie mash. he figured it would probably last a year. >> retractor. what? retractor, the curly thing with the curl. >> reporter: on mash, did you use a lot of medical jargon. >> yes, it was hard to remember. reporter: really? yeah, but in fact sometimes i would write it on the patient's belly while i was operating, i was a real play doctor. >> reporter: but his passion for science was real. >> there's a battle going on out there that will determine the fate of the universe. >> reporter: after mash he hosted scientific american frontiers on pbs. a series he called the best thing he ever did in front of a camera. >> telescopes like these here in

chile have shown us we're even less at the center of our universe... >> reporter: you had a medical issue a while back that showed you the importance of communicating clearly. >> boy, did it ever. i was on a mountain top in chile. i was interviewing astronomers for the science program. and within a few minutes i was in the worst pain in my life because i had a strangled intestine. about a yard of it was dead. >> reporter: sha sounds awful. it's not so good. and i could have died within a couple of hours but there was this wonderful doctor that they brought me to who said in the clearest possible way, something has gone wrong with your intestine. we have to cut out the bad part and sew the two good ends together. i said that's great. do it. >> reporter: i understand. yeah. that may be the best example of simple, clear communication of science that i've ever heard.

it was a good time to hear it. so there are times when you least expect it where good communication can come in handy. >> reporter: it can be life saving. >> yeah. reporter: are the scientists cowed by having hawkeye teach them this stuff? >> no north no? what matters is if you really allowing yourself to be aaware of everything. >> reporter: cowed or not, it looked like they're beating a path to alan alda's classroom. >> that's going to transform you. >> reporter: is this your life's work now? >> no, i wouldn't say this is my life's work. but i do spend a lot of time at it. with acting and writing which give me enormous pleasure so i don't not do it. i do it whenever it seems like there's a chance to do something difficult. but possible. you know? >> reporter: but this is rewarding as well. >> yeah. yeah, yeah, that's a great ending, yeah, yeah. >> reporter: (laughing).

(laughing). osgood: still to come, the (laughing). osgood: still to come, the lessons of boston. one non-drowsy claritin king every day during your allergy season for continuous relief. 18 days! 17 days! 22 days of continuous relief. live claritin clear. every day. walgreens can help when you're at the corner of "allergies" and "even more allergies." come to walgreens for expert advice and the right products, like claritin bonus packs - now $18.99 with balance rewards card. at the corner of happy and healthy. it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. aarp medicare supplement insurance plans, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long.

insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. gotta get that bacon! yummy, crunchy, bacon bacon bacon there in that bag! who wants a beggin' strip? me! i'd get it myself, but i don't have thumbs! mmm mmm mmm mmm mmm it's beggin'! mmm, i love you. (announcer) beggin' strips...there's no time like beggin' time. [ merv ] mr. clean magic eraser extra power was three times faster on permanent marker. it looks like mr. clean has won everything. the cleaning games are finished? and so are we. [ male announcer ] clean more, work less, with the mr. clean magic eraser extra power.

>> osgood: though it's still early in the investigations, there are already some lessons to be learned from this past week. martha teichner has filed this sunday journal. >> suspect in custody. nobody is to come in the perimeter. it's still a hot scene. >> reporter: it ended with applause. ( cheers and applause ) and a tweet. the week from hell in boston. the awful, sad, surreal events playing out like a multimedia horror show. starring terrorism and technology. who could have imagined a major

american city locked down? this, in an ordinary suburb like watertown, massachusetts. but who could have imagined that the tsarnaev brothers would be picked out of so many thousands, the tsarnaev brothers would be picked out of so many thousands, tens of thousands of pictures and identified so fast. name supplied to faces by state department computers. is this set of events a game-changer? >> it's the latest game-changer reporter: bill bratton has >> it's the latest game-changer reporter: bill bratton has been boston's police commissioner, new york's, and chief of police in los angeles. >> the game-changer here is that the big data error, the social media error, all aspects of that new world that was nonexistent even on 9/11. all of that came into play during this event. >> reporter: what time did you hear about the boston marathon

bombing on monday? >> something just blew up. reporter: when did you start seeing the images of the explosions that were played back over and over? the man in the orange jersey falling. horribly injured people being raced away. the face of martin richard, the eight-year-old boy who was killed? it was in the anguish and confusion of the after math that we began to see the impact of the internet and social media, for better and for worse on a story of this magnitude. tweets became the new public story of this magnitude. tweets became the new public service announcements. when photographs of the tsarnaev brothers were released and the public was asked for help identifying them... >> the nation is counting on those with information to come forward and provide it to us. >> reporter: 300,000 people a minute went to the f.b.i.

website. >> social media instantly shared those photos. hundreds of thousands of times. they amplified a very important message from the f.b.i. fortunately they also amplified a lot of unimportant and misguided messages from other sources >> reporter: john herman is tech editor at buzzfeed dot-com, a leading social news site. >> it was a very messy, noisy and at times worrying process >> reporter: some sites found themselves posting apologies. but not before damaging misidentifications went viral and were picked up by mainstream media. dzhokhar tsarnaev tweeted this last month. "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." until the morning alarm goes off and all hell unleashes. last monday hours after the bombings, he wrote, "ain't no love in the heart of the city. stay safe, people." in retrospect, chilling.

his twitter account now the subject of intense scrutiny. >> what we're beginning to find is a portrait of someone who seems to have more in common with our ideas of what a school shooter would look like or what a troubled teenager would look like. >> reporter: the older tsarnaev brother, tamerlan, was quoted as saying, "i don't have a single american friend. i don't understand them." >> i mean the pattern that we were seeing with these two young boston bombers is a pattern we've seen with many radicals in europe where you see immigrants from muslim countries who are imperfectly a simulated into european society. >> reporter: max boot is a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations in new york. >> they blend in to some extent but at the same time internally they withdraw from the mainstream of society and embrace this radical extremist vision. the only warning you have can be when the bomb actually goes off as it did in boston. i think that is in some ways the

worst nightmare. >> reporter: boot sees the boston marathon bombings as a blueprint for future terrorism. and a wake-up call for cities convinced it can't happen to them. >> i think the boston bombing will shake some of that complacency and make lots of other cities around the country realize they could be in the cross hairs too. >> reporter: but in boston, a lot of things went right. dzhokhar tsarnaev was caught. alive. for that, boston celebrated. >> we are one! we are boston! we are strong! we are boston strong! ( cheers and applause ) >> reporter: yes, the resolve is there. but the damage is done. the sorrow and pain and loss are

real. if only we could back up the video, turn back time a week to the sunny start of the race and run it again. with a different outcome. the diabetic nerve pain, >> osgood: ahead, we remember. a. i felt like my feet were going to sleep. it progressed from there to burning to like a thousand bees that were just stinging my feet. [ female announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, changes in eye sight including blurry vision,

muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who've had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. having less pain... it's a wonderful feeling. [ female announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. plus the perfecting color of a bb cream equal? introducing the newest beauty trend. total effects cc cream c for color. c for correction. [ female announcer ] fight 7 signs of aging flawlessly. cc for yourself.

it happened this week. four strangers caught in a violence that shattered the boston marathon. four young strangers now forever in our memories. third grader martin richard was the youngest victim. enjoying the excitement at the finish line with his family. >> martin, you know, anybody's little boy, was our little boy. >> osgood: but in an instant martin was struck down and his mother and younger sister jane were seriously injured. both remain hospitalized. neighbors, classmates and friends, say martin's heart was as generous as his smile. graduate student lu lingzi from china was celebrating her good grades at boston university when she headed out to watch the runners across the finish line. friends and classmates remember her as an excellent student of

statistics with an outgoing personality. >> she was a 23-year-old far from home and in the heart ache of her family and friends on both sides of the great ocean we're reminded of the humanity that we all share. >> osgood: she's described as a romantic who loved spring and flowers and looked forward to falling in love. krystle campbell stood near the marathon finish line just about every year. friends and colleagues say she was a giver who enjoyed other people's successes as much as her own. she was always there when they needed her. >> she was a happy, happy girl. sometimes you feel like you're bragging too much, but she was just perfect. >> reporter: massachusetts resident for all her 29 years, krystle campbell worked as a restaurant manager in sub urban arlington.

m.i.t. campus police officer sean collyer was shot and killed by the fleeing suspects thursday night. fellow officers, students and friends all described the 26-year-old as a man who was committed to serving his community. they had a memorial service for him last night. >> not only was he born to be a police officer, he was born to pursue a career in policing that illustrated all the good things that policing this society is supposed to represent. >> reporter: his friends say sean collyer dpied doing what he loved, protecting the people around him. the brilliance of four young smiles gone. we went out and asked people a simple question: how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer,

one thing that hasn't changed: the official retirement age. ♪ the question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. ♪ >> osgood: here's a look at the week ahead on our sunday morning calendar.

monday, boston radio stations observe a moment of silence at 2:50 in the arch exactly one week after the marathon bombings. on tuesday, former child star shirley temple celebrates her 85th birthday. she began her film career at the age of 3 and won a special oscar in 1935. wednesday is opening night for a one-person play starring bette midler making her return to the broadway stage after an absence of more than 30 years. thursday sees the dedication of the george w. bush presidential center in dallas. all five living presidents are expected to attend. friday marks the start of the first weekend of the new orleans jazz festival. and saturday night top names in politics and journalism gather in washington for the annual white house correspondents' dinner. and of course all this week and for many weeks to come, investigators will continue their probe into the boston

marathon bombings. now we go to bob scheiffer in washington for a look at what's ahead on "face the nation." good morning, bob >> schieffer: we're on that story, too, of course, charles. we'll talk to massachusetts governor deval patrick and the boston police commissioner edward davis. >> osgood: thank you, bob scheiffer. we'll be watching. next week here on sunday morning... fast forward into the future. ♪ (announcer) wake them up with breakfast-favorite flavors like salmon, egg, cheese, and whole grain oats. friskies. now serving breakfast.

olay ultra moisture body wash can with more moisturizers than seven bottles of the leading body wash. with ultra moisture your body wash is anything but basic soft, smooth skin with olay. sunday morning's moment of nature is sponsored by... >> osgood: we leave you this morning in concorde massachusetts not far from boston where mallards are enjoying the peaceful waters of walden pond.

>> osgood: i'm charles osgood. please join us again next sunday morning. please join us again next sunday morning. until then, i'll see you on the radio. hard it can be to breathe ow how and man, you know how that feels. bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. you know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder

does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? don't wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. captioning made possible by johnson & johnson, where quality products for the american family have been a tradition for generations captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ,,,,,,,,

are staked out at a massachusetts hospital... s waiting to this is kpix 5 news. ques ct investigators are staking out in a massachusetts hospital still waiting to question the surviving suspect in the boston marathon bombing. on the program this morning, the latest on his condition and the possibility that he may have attempted suicide. and the heat is on this sunday in the bay area, temperatures warming into the mid-80s inland. we'll have the forecast in a minute. also ahead, why extra law enforcement in the city of oakland is coming to an end. it is 7:30 on sunday, april 21 april 21st. thanks for joining us. i'm anne makovec. >> and i'm phil matier. we have a lot of news to talk about in the first hour. and first up boston, how prepared is fran and the bay area. we have a lot of events, what